2026.3.31. NBR - Pacific Rim Technology Policy Conference

3/31, National Bureau of Asian Research hosts this conference every year, among others. It's always interesting to hear, not just from technology viewpoints.

2026.3.26-28 Electric SEA

Electric Sea 2026 is hosting a so-called hackerthon at ArtLove Salon, where I took a few art classes recently. I signed up for a workshop taught by Grant Hinkson. He has prepared 6 nicely crafted wooden box, precut plexi-glass plates, PCB board designed by him and manufactured in China (shipment arrived in 4 days!). In class 1, we hooked up the wires with the controllers, and an Teensy 4.0 microcontroller (Amazon or Sparkfun). In class 2, we downloaded his code, and flashed onto the Teensy with Arduino IDE. We verfied that our connections were correct by checking the readout in our laptop using his debugger, for all the controllers: 4 rotary, 2 sliders, 2 buttons. Then we screwed the bottom plate on, jammed the USB cord through the outlet. Too bad that the plug where the USB cord goes through is too tight. I, and Daniel, fried our microcontrollers. Last, open Visual Studio, grab any example from OpenProcessing, modify it by using AI (Claude) with an example he provided.

3/28, Saturday, evening, OK and I arrived almost at 7pm. I asked her to sign up for the award ceremony. But no one checked her registration. We walked around different installations, ate sandwiches and spring rolls. Saw a group using VR glasses, one girl with her colored fabric patches of her year of pain, a group with LED lights that get brighter if one light is near another, a large screen of static kelp and sound of water (diving), a cut piramide-shaped robot, a large paper-mache with lights that turned color when you touch it, a webapp that registers user's hand gesture to ~8 emotions based on predefined questions and then plot the the questions in shiny spheres colored by aggregated emotions... The inventor (or the group of designers) stood by their products and tell you what they are about. To be honest, a lot of crap. But a great chance for people of different discipline to get together and play. Here's Grant's station showcasing what we built: 3 boxes here (total 6 students). None of these are final prototype, but a tool to use in some projects.

At 8:15pm, Elizabeth Churchill gave a talk to encourage everyone playing with AI. She's part of a planning team for an AI univesity in United Emerit. Luckily she's not there now, with the ongoing war. A good speaker. Afterwards, the organizer Third Place Technologies presented awards to the "digital kelp", and the "light together".

Daniel's microcontroller woke up last evening. Safety fuse? Grant gave me back my dead MCU. However, when I tried it later, it was still dead.

2026.3.28. Red Mountain

3/28, I failed to set up alarm clock, woke up later than planned. O.K. and I drove out shortly before 8am. She came up north because she needed to pick up her tent from her friend in Tacoma, with whom she climbed Orizaba early this January.

The road to the TH of Red Mountain was mostly covered with snow, some middle parts were melted out. We pulled off the road and parked on the snow. With the record low snow this year, I was hoping to drive all the way to TH. This is a photo of the TH, which O.K. by the sign.

Started walking the road ~9:45am. The first minute or two was on trail, but soon the trail disappeared into the snow. Snow was soft and shallow in the beginning. Not a lot of snow, but enough that we were punching holes. Put on snowshoes. From time to time we could see a faint trail where the snow had melted on steeper slopes. The slope gets fairly steep, but not terrible. There's some road zigzaging on this slope, which we crossed a couple of time, and there, it was flat and all snow. Minor bushwhacking involved.

Once we emerged from most trees, the view was pretty good (to east). Eventually, we followed a ridge. At about 5400', no more trees, somewhat steep. We put on crampons. I haven't used crampons for years. Had to adjust to fit my current boots. It gave me a chance to eat a bit of my sandwich, otherwise, I was lagging behind so much that I had no time to stop and refuel. Almost 1pm already. O.K. doesn't seem to need to eat. We also got our ice-axe out, and put on our jackets. A bit chilly when wind blew.

Finally we got on a false summit. Great view here over to the west (Alpine Lakes). Rainier is to the south shrouded in clouds.

From here, need to drop down on to the ledge that connects these peak to get to the proper Red Mountain. You can see O.K. in this photo. A bit narrow here, but not bad, except for one small rock-pile that I had to use hands.

Finally, we reached our objective. It doesn't seem any higher than the false summit. In summer, it's easy to scramble to other peaks along this ledge. There's a trail, once the snow is gone. Snapped a couple of photos, especially photos of O.K. on summit (she posts them on Facebook).

Because we had an event to go this evening, we turned around right away. The event promised dinner, so both of us were motivated to go back not too late. I glissade a little bit to catch up with O.K., and gave me a chance to finish my sandwich. My left leg was starting to cramp.

Switched to snowshoes at some point. I'm testing a newly acquired Altas Helium snowshoes. I like the fitting: easy to secure, and fit well. But getting on and off is slow, as I have to unbuckle all 3 bindings, even though each one is easy. O.K. was taking on/off her snowshoes constantly. I, after one switch, gave up, and plowed through the alder branches and down logs on snowshoes. Even with snowshoes, I managed to step through into some holes and fell twice. Miraculously, no scratches. Could have easily fallen on a pointy tree limb.

Dropped back on the road a bit south of the TH, but still north of the creek. The road was now melted more. I didn't put on spikes walking out. Saw a truck and a snowmobile as we walked back to the car. Now, a problem: the car had sunk into now melting snow, and it couldn't move. I used a snowshoe to dig out snow behind all 4 wheels. Then, O.K. would drive on reverse, and I would push. Did this a couple of rounds, and finally the back wheels got on pavement. That took ~20 mintes. Drove out ~4:45pm.

We filled the gas at Cle Elum Safeway, before driving back home. Dropped our stuff, and I picked up my badge and my Midi-box. We rushed to ArtLove Salon. Arrived ~7pm, still had most food left. Total ~6.8 miles, 3470' EG. I get to use all gear: spikes, snowshoes, crampons, ice axe, and helmet. Not all necessary, but definitely snowshoes.

2026.3.26. Cherry Blossom at UW Quad

3/26, Thursday. Sunny. Went to UW at lunch time. Too bad, many others had the same idea. The flowers are lovely, just too many people.

2026.3.23. Tiger 3

3/23, Monday. After 2 meetings, I headed to Issaquah for Tiger. Started late, only went to Tiger3 today, so I could visit a friend in her new house. Despite of the clouds, I could still see most mountains, and the Seattle high rises. Here's a mother carrying her unwilling baby up here. Not a bad excercie.

Tried again today with my Brooks running shoes, and I fell twice coming down. Need hiking boots here. Debating what to bring for my Camino -- I'll be walking 200 miles in late April. I was told to wear trailrunners. Maybe next time, I'll try my On shoes. Or do I need ankle support?

From Issaquah to Kirkland requires 3 buses!

2026.3.21. Mixed Media Workshop with Rowan Eriksson

3/21, Saturday afternoon. Another workshop at Art Love Salon. Today, no lesson. We were given a wide variety of paint, crayons, charcoals to use. A bunch of magazines to cut from too. More students than usual. Most I haven't seen before. 2 glasses of cut flowers as model. But not all the students paint from these flowers.

I'm at loss of what to use. I like lessons. This is what I made after ~2 hours. Mixing oil with acrylic turns out disasterous. Rowan smelled my paint and told me which one is what. Amazing. The guy on my right painted very fast and well. Then he started to glue things onto his painting. The guy on my left, by contract, did 2 things which I couldn't tell what either one is. He also talks a lot. Quite annoying. He is a cancer researcher.

2026.3.20. Firebird at PNB

3/20, Friday.

• Alejandro Cerrudo -- Little mortal jump
• Ulysses Dove -- Red Angels
• Kent Stowell -- Firebird

I had too high of an expectation for Firebird, and it fell short. The last grand scene of palace and the new couple look nice with the costums, but no much dancing. The set uses many overhanging painted cardboards. A few arches. Looks nice enough, quite efficient, but not sure why the hype.

Today's firebird is Ashton Edwards, a 5'-short non-binary boy, who danced en pointe in a female role. He/she is very good, as graceful as a girl, but have strength. Kudo to PNB that allows such a young artist to flourish.

Out of the 3 works today, I liked "Little mortal jump" the most. It's quite different, with some jerky movements.

2026.3.20. Daffodil Day at Pike Place Market

Another daffodil day at Pike Place Market, celebrating the start of spring. A bit dreary, weather-wise.

2026.3.19. Mary Jane - Seattle Rep

3/19, 7:30pm preview of Mary Jane, by Amy Herzog. This is an one-act play on a single mother battling with the health care system for her cronically ill toddler with cerebral palsy. Quite sad. Ends almost abruptly. Could be longer, because it touches many aspects, but none deep: religion, health care, juggling with work, taking care of a sick child, nursing, teaching, privacy. Nice stage set:2 sets (a home scene and a hospital scene) on a rotating base.

2026.3.19. Facial Expressions in Charcoal with Dominique Medici

3/19, Thursday. Another art workshop. This time is charcoal drawing. Dominique laid out 3 steps:

• proportion
• shade
• details

We were given many funny images of faces to choose from. She walks around and makes suggestions. This is my result after 2.5 hours.

2026.3.15. The Consul - Puget Sound Concert Opera

3/15, Sunday, 3pm. Puget Sound Concert Opera's 2nd performance this weekend of The Consul by Gian Carlo Menotti (both music and libretto).

The plot is sad. A dissident escapes towards the frontier, leaving wife, baby and mom, who are now monitored by the secret police. The wife goes to the consolate day after day trying to get a visa to join her husband. The secretary of the consul is a heartless burreaucrat who demands numerous documents from all applicants. In the end, baby, mom, wife all die, husband captured.

I liked the songs about "tomorrow, tomorrow", and "papers, papers". Some words are clever. Overall I enjoyed it. A pleasant surprise is that they had laid out some food during the intermission.

This is the first time I ever visited Langston Hughes performance center.

2026.3.7. Black Canyon

3/7 Saturday. 13 of us (8 Indians) met in 2 locations, and headed to Wenas Wildlife area for some sunshine. Black Canyon is new to me. Open vista (few trees), gentle slope, a few OTVs, gravel road.

Saw some buttercup and yellowbell in the valley below, 1 single grass widow, quite a lot of buckwheat (all white and small). Also a couple of fainted sign posts, and 1 corpse.

One of our 3 cars is a Tesla, so we parked by the paved N. Wenas Rd, and walked the gravel Black Canyon Rd to a gate. Unlatched the gate and walked inside. I guess if you had a key, you could drive further, as one black truck did.

Almost all flat in the wide canyon. At this trail junction, we waited for S who went back looking for his sunglasses. S is the only person who has been here. It took a long while. 3 of us scrambled up a hill to the right (east), hoping for a better view. But it's too flat up, couldn't see the other side. Soon as we lost the sight of the group below (see them in this photo), we turned back down. There, I found the only grasswidow today. Pretty happy.

Finally S is back, accompanied by R. They were running. We continued forward in the valley, opposite what S suggested. Found some lingering snow. A bit muddy. Finally gained a bit of elevation, and reached Ridge Road, where we saw a couple of ATVs. Decent view: Adams, Rainier, the town of Wenatchee.

We walked long a nice flat ridge following a trail, and then scrambled over to a different ridge. Coming down, a bit steep. Scramble is new to some of us, and their progress is slow. The 3 of us who went up the hill earlier at the fork were the first to come down. Regrouped and walked out on the gravel road together. Some are excited about the scramble, some not so happy.

At the car, they discussed having dinner in Yakima. One guy, N.B., had a date tonight, so begged S (his driver) to skip the dinner. I hopped on their car, went all the way to Redmond, with a 5 min stop at North Bend to charge the Tesla. Then N.B. drove to downtown, after picking up his date near Volunteer Park. Their event is at the library. Perfect for me. I walked home.

2026.3.5. First Thursday at Seattle Art Museum

3/5 Thursday. Two new exhibitions at SAM.

Beyond Mysticism - the modern northwest is quite a large collection, focus on PNW artist or scenary. However, there're a couple of Dalí's paintings. Quite fun to see. I like fanciful imagery. The local artist Malcolm Roberts is new to me, very Dalí like paintings. I'm very disappointed that Wikipedia doesn't have a proper article on him. I also like Reginald Marsh's fun depiction of indoor scenes in NYC.

In the middle of this special exhibition is a "living room" fit with paintings on the walls and books on shelves. Quite cozy.

Another exhibition is a solor show of Samantha Yun Wall. Very stylish, creative, all black and white. Shadows, hands, eyes. I quite like these. Wall is the winner of SAM's Betty Bowen award for Northwest artists.

2026.2.27-3.3 Wildflowers in southern California

2/27, Friday. We left early on our quest for desert flowers, after fueling up. It'll be a long drive today, need to go to the east side of Sierras. All the mountain passes are closed this time of the year, so have to drove around through Bakersfield.

First, we are in luck for almond blossoms, even though it's already at the tail end. Califoria is the largest almond producer in the world (80%!). Some Googling pointed us to Shafter, a small town. Rows and rows of almond trees, however most are done, green leaves coming out, petals on the ground. Found one late patch on Cherry Ave, and then on 7 Standard Rd. Lovely.

At Bakersfield, turned NE onto CA-178, heading into the hills (the southern tail of the Sierras). The view is getting better as we getting inside the hills. This road follows Kern River. Some flowers were adding some orange shade on the hills.

We branched off onto Old Kern River Canyon Road. Good gravel. It gains elevation, higher than the paved CA-178. Saw a few cars parked at some TH. Around the highest stretch, I spotted some Foothill Pines. Made a stop, and soon realized that they are everywhere. Their needles are long, cones are huge and pointy. Definitely need to pay attention, not to drive onto one. Picked two from the ground. They are heavy and full of resin.

The goal is a stop at Remington Hot Springs. Park the car at a well signed large pullout, and walked down to Kern River. A couple of hispanic families are enjoying the relaxation. Kids running around. One guy was scrabbing a pool with a large brush. It's nice to see someone taking care of the place. One of the kids told me a small pool higher, maybe the source. We soaked in the pool, and then walked to a submerged pool to eat our lunch. Walking up to the road, I took photos of some flowers: fiddleneck, blue dick, mustard, and a large patch of popcorn.

Next short stop is Isabella Lake to stretch our legs. It's a very large reservoir. Not particularly pretty. There's a stone memorial commemorating some camp site of Edward Kern during the winter of 1845-6.

~Half an hour later, we saw Joshua trees next to highway, yellow flowers covering some slopes. Once hit CA-14, turn north to CA-395.

At Olancha, we turned east towards Death Valley, at the south end of Owens Lake. Owens Lake is quite pretty. It still has a lot of water in Feb. You can see snowy peaks of southern Sierra Mountains to the north.

Onto CA-190, crossing Panamint Mountains across Death Valley N.P. Our next destination. The view is very good, especially in the glow of the setting sun. Made a few short stops for pictures. Flowers along the road: Birds-eye Gilia, Notch-leaf Phacelia, Prickly Poppy (not yet in flower), Yellow Cup, early bloom of Desert Globemallow.

Made a stop at Stovepipe Well store inquired about back roads, gave up camping at Saline Valley and visit of Racetrack Playa, despite of renting an SUV. Overnight in Beatty, NV. Filled gas.

2/28, Saturday. Death Valley National Park


On the way to Death Valley, stopped at Rhyolite ghost town. Before the ghost town is some odd sculptures at Goldwell Openair Museum.
Rhyolite was a prosperous mining (quartz) town in early 1900s. Many relics remain: a 3-story bank building, a handsome train depot, many rusty tools. Good view of the surrounding hills.

Now over the gentle Daylight Pass, and down towards Badwater basin. The road sides were covered with flowers: purple Caltha-leaf Phacilia, yellow desert gold. The snowy top of Telescope Peak to the west.

We drove on the unpaved Westside Road through the salt flat. Great view. Very few cars. Still had some water left. Not sure what kind of mineral in the salt, the water was greenish. The road continued to brushy area with less view. So, we drove back to the main paved road.

Artists' Road has many colorful crumbly-looking rocks. It's a one way road from the south. A few stops for you to walk closer to these rocks. On our way out, saw a group of 3 motorbikers. I like this lady in red. Many flowers on the slope on the way to and out of these rocks.

Next stop: Bad Water. A lot more water than I've seen. Very pretty. Reflections. Took off our shoes and walked into the salty water. This is the lowest point in US, 288' under sea level. A sign of sea level was displayed on the hill. There's a woman wearing a crown and swinging fire around, a guy was video-taping her.

Used the restroom at Furnace Creek visitor center, and asked about the bloom conditions on different roads. Temperature is 93°F.

Secured a camping spot at Texas Springs Campground. Nice background (opposite direction to the skeleton) and a funny phone booth. I was worried that it would be full, because it was a Saturday. Too hot to hang around or walk in the sun. Drove towards Dante's Point, hoping for cooler temperature.

On the way, we stopped at 20 Mules Canyon. Walked briefly before returning to the AC car. It was simply too hot.

Dante's View is higher, much coolor. From the parking lot, can walk both left and right, both with great view over the Bad Water basin, and the Panamint Mountains. We, and many others, waited here for the sunset. Plenty room so it never felt crowded. Nice color today. Almost full moon. Once the sun set, the temperature dropped quickly.

At 8pm, we followed a path lined by red LED lights to a large parking lot behind the Furnace Creek Vistor Center. By now, the temperature was quite comfortable, may even call for a light fleece. There was a ranger program on stars. It's amazing that despite of the bright full moon, we could still see quite a bit. All you need is blocking the moon from your eyes. 2 rangers pointed at the sky from time to time with their powerful flashlight. A good turnout. 2 large hotels and 2 campgrounds next to the visitor center.

2/29, Sunday. As before, Zabriski Point for sunrise. Many others were there when we arrived. Not even 6am yet! Some walked down. Most are as lazy as us. Sat and waited for the sun to rise. Quite a few tripods. At this hour, the temperature is pleasant.

The park has many guided walks and talks at various locations. At 8:30am, joined ranger Joe for a guided walk to Rainbow Canyon. About a dozen people showed up. He talked about the rock formation, patterns. Also odd histories like: there used to be a paved road into this canyon. Star Trek shot some scenes here. After Joe left, we continued the short walk, and scrambled up boulders for better view.

Our last stop before leaving the park is Salt Creek. New for me. A long boardwalk let you walk over the creek, where tens of thousands of pupfish are swimming in groups. This endemic fish is only found here, adapt to the salty water with extreme temperature range (0°-47°C, or 32°-116°F).

It's a long drive to Joshua Tree N.P. where we'll spend the night. On the way, stopped at Trona Pinnacles. I've seen these tufas before from Hwy-178, but now with an SUV, we drove the 5 miles of dirt road. They are much more impressive up close. It's fun to scramble over, through, around the tufas. But too hot and dry. No water at all, but saw quite some yellow and pink veberna. These were formed by the now dry Searles Lake from the Owens Valley to Death Valley. At one point during the Pleistocene, the area was under 640' of water.

One of the overnight options I researched is Ricardo Campground at Red Rock State Park. Too early when we drove by. Still checked it out. I really liked it here. However, not sure where is water (supposed to have portable water). A few campers here. All sites have picnic table, with great view and the backdrop of gray cliff (not colorful here).

Driving south through the town of Mojave. Saw hug fieds of solar panels on both sides of Hwy14. When opened in 2014, Ivanpah Power Facility was the world's largest solar thermal station, 3500 acres land, 392MW capacity. However, solar technology has progressed to photovoltaic (PV). This one is about to close due to high operational cost and competition from newer PV solar panels. It's impressive to see the sale.

Antelope Poppy Reserve is a bit of a detour. Maybe 2 weeks too early for the peak bloom. Still lovely. Quite a lot of other flowers than poppy, especially fiddleneck. Just in time for the sunset. Not too many people. Many poppies were also blooming in the nearby fields.

Saw a lot of windmills around here.

The owner of tonight's hotel called me to make sure that I'd arrive by 9pm. The price of hotels in the area (near Palm Spring) is high, except for this one, even though it's right outside of the northern entrance (1 block from the visitor center).

3/1, Monday. Joshua Tree National Park
We visited the park south-bound. Some of the joshua trees are in bloom. Large creamy flower clusters. Some cholla cactus is in flower. Other than these 2, not much flowers, except at the south end of the park.

I was in Joshua Tree N.P. once, and remembered a lot of boulders, and a pond (to my suprise). The rest was gone from my clobbered memory. Did a loop to Banker Pond. Found the water again. Really nice. Quite a few cars and people here. This sign is funny: Do not die today! Towards the end of the loop, view of some distant snowy mountains (San Gorgonio). The petroglyphs are an added bonus.

Also stopped at Skull Rock and Split Rock. Skull Rock was very popular for a good reason. The rock is large and does look like a human skull, especially looking from the side. A lot of people lined up to take photos in front of its "eye sockets".

Drove up to Keys View for a panaromic view to the west: Coachella Valley. The sprawling urban development of Palm Spring, Indio, ... San Andrea fault! You can see Salton Sea to the south, and to the north still snowy San Jacinto, San Gorgonio. Quite a few tour groups. One guide was quite entertaining, talking about the real estate developement, casino, ... Had lunch here. No shade, but at least not hot.

Driving through the length of the park to the south entrance. No more crowds. Quite scenic drive. Stopped to take photos at the Cholla Garden, which was closed for some reason.

Cottonwood Spring at the southern entrance, as the name suggests, is an oasis. The tall fan palms have old leaves draping around the trunk, like beard. There are ruins of old gold mines. Found this beautiful desert bluebells. Quite a few, blooming in the sand. We didn't walk much. Still too hot.

Driving out the south gate, along the road, saw quite a lot of flowers.

I wanted to camp tonight because of the lunar eclipse ~3am. Salton Sea between Joshua Tree NP and our Anza Borrego is a logical choice. California State Park operates a few campgrounds on its NE shore (so not exactly on our way). We stopped at the small town of Mecca to buy some food. All Mexican, Spanish only.

But first, visited Bombay Beach further south. The town looks semi deserted. Sandy. Some houses have strange artwork in their backyard. The left photo is one of them overly convoluted. Drove down to the very wide beach. Feels even more abandoned. Random "art" scattered around. A lot of space. A couple of RVs parked here.

Salton State Recreation Area operates a few campgrounds. We drove into Corvina Beach. Picnic tables. Toilet building. Water. The payment slip asks for camp site number. There's no camp host. I asked a camper van owner and borrowed a pen. There's no number whatsoever. Enough space. Water is still a bit of a walk away. Great sunset! At ~3am, I did crawl out of the tent to see the eclipse. The earth is moving so slow. Took hours for the earth shadow to pass the moon. I didn't wait that long. Full blood moon tonight.

3/2, Tuesday. Driving to Borrego Springs via Borrego Salton Sea Way. Visited a couple of small BLM campgrounds along the way. Free, no facility. First stop at Calcite Mine TH. Walked a bit. Too sunny. Dry rocks. Found quite a few Bristly Langloisia and Phacelia Crenulata, one Whitebract Blazingstar, and one lonely desert lily. Next to the Borrego Springs airport, saw many California Primrose, big and showy, right outside of the fence.

Stopped at Anza Borrego visitor center, inquired about the flower condition. Was told that they had a few days of above 90°F weather, and flowers were at their last leg. Also walked around their nice garden, used the washroom.
Headed north to checkout Coyote Canyon - a known wildflower destination, also where I got my rental car stuck in sand years ago. On the way, along Borrego Springs Rd, saw many large sculptures of prehistorical animals at Galleta Meadows made by Ricardo Breceda with Under The Sun Foundation. They are impressive, sitting on flat by dry meadow. Desert verbena was adding a nice pink hue. These were not here when dad and I were here last time.

This time, with an SUV, we drove to the 2nd wash of Coyote Canyon. It still had some water. Found a few people here, one gentleman was braving the sun, painting in plein air. All along, not much flowers left. Too late, too hot. At Desert Garden (with picnic table, signed), walk up a little hill where you can be a bit higher. Good view of the area. Many ocotillo, some blooming. Bright red flowers.

Per ranger's recommendation, we didn't try to find the pumpkin patch (need a more serious car), but hiked the short "Slot", a very narrow canyon, where you had to squeeze through at times. It was fun. Thanks to the narrowness, shade inside the slot, so not too hot. Quite a lot of people.

Flying out from Palm Spring Airport. About 1.5 hr drive. The airport waiting area feels like a restaurant, totally open. Very nice. Had many hours before our flight, because I reserved a late flight to ensure a day of travel. Alaska Air is quite good. No delay. This concludes a week of California tour. Too much driving!